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Tuesday, 21 April 2009

ePositive - Elen Caldecott

I recently went to an event where there were lots of writers chatting to each other about life, the universe and chocolate (the nibbles provided were very good). And, many people there were concerned about the future. Not the rising flood waters seeping into out repossessed homes, mind. But ebooks. The digital revolution that has changed music and TV and film now really does seem to be headed for the book world.

Now, I understand the fear, I really do. BUT. I can’t help feeling quite optimistic. I quite agree that it might be hard to make money from this writing lark once everything it instantly piratable and downloadable onto your phone. But, on the other hand, it has never been easy to make a decent living as a writer; it’s just a fact of life.

If we ignore the money thing, I can’t help thinking that the growth of different mediums is quite exciting. Like the invention of computer graphics must have been for artists working in paints. I can’t ever see myself loving mini-novels texted to my phone, Japanese-style. But I AM very interested to see how writers are using technology, specifically their websites, to expand the world of their stories. It draws out the lifespan of a book by providing a focus for your fans while you’re away scribbling the next instalment.

For example, Hilary McKay’s wonderful creation Rose Casson keeps a blog. And Mal Peet’s Paul Faustino has his very own website. And I was delighted to discover that one of the minor characters in Michael Grant’s Gone is re-telling the whole story again from a different perspective.

These websites are the DVD extras; places for fans to revel in the world of the books they have enjoyed. They are an exciting symbiosis of traditional books and the digital world. As soon as I get a bit of cash together, my own website will see the addition of a ‘deleted scenes’ page; maybe even an actor’s commentary...

Digitised words are nothing to be scared of – they’re still just words after all. As writers, we should feel, if not at home, then at least eager to explore our new neighbourhood.

Who have I missed out? Which writers do you know of who are using new technologies creatively?

4 comments:

OK, my MG podcasts are very popular (and we'll be doing a similar thing with Corvus), but I've thought about using e-formats even more creatively. We haven't even begun to see the narrative forms which will evolve digitally.

It's very time-consuming if you don't have a publisher's resources behind you, however. Or aren't wealthy enough to hire your experts ...

There's been concern here about the Amazon Kindle with text-to-voice capabilities cutting into recorded book sales. While the authors understandably want to protect their profits (such as they are), the vision impaired community is disappointed. With the Kindle, they would have far more titles. Any thoughts on something like that?

Regarding the Kindle - voice thing, I don't see that it can't exist in parallel with audio books. When there is no audio book, the visually impaired can use the Kindle (or whatever reader). But for listening pleasure, a synthetic voice can't compare with a trained actor reading a book allowed. It's a whole different experience. I, for example, only really enjoyed Tolkien's 'Silmarillion' when I got the audiobook read by Martin Shaw. What a tough gig that must have been for him...

I agree Ellen, that there is lots to be excited about and nothing to be scared of - at least if publishers approach it in the right way (there is little sign of many of them doing that so far, though). Giving away e-books won't kill paper sales: OK, it's a gamble. But it's a gamble we might as well take, as pirates will give the e-books away if we don't do it ourselves. I was talking to a (children's) writer last night who had put the whole of his novel online with extra info (dvd extras style) and the paper sales for that book were higher than for his other similar novels. At least for now, paper and e-books can live happily side by side. As for the future, we just have to wait and see. But that's what makes it the future. (When did we get so risk averse?)